Success Stories

Finding Myself in After All When I first read the script for After All, I was deeply moved by how honest and human it was. The story follows three generations of Southern women navigating family, trauma, love, and loss, and I could see my own Texan family in them. Their dialogue, humor, and the quiet strength behind each of them all felt familiar and true. What struck me most was how the script found humor even in the most painful circumstances. That’s real life. No matter how heavy things ge...

Producing an independent film is an exercise in patience, collaboration, and controlled chaos. The journey of bringing After All to life was no exception. In this blog, I want to pull back the curtain on what producers actually do for your film, and how the right producing team can make all the difference when navigating the unpredictable world of indie filmmaking. The Early Stage: Building the Foundation In the beginning, when the script is finished and the director’s vision starts to crysta...

As recently announced in Deadline, Mark Wheeler's management company has opened their doors exclusively to our community and we're excited to announce we've partnered with Pathfinder Media- who will develop and package the winning script of our Film & TV Comedy screenwriting contest! Direct Manager Access Mark Wheeler is a global entertainment executive and franchise builder with over 15 years of experience across comics, video games, film, and television. As co-founder of Pathfinder Media, h...

Hey, Stage 32 Community! I am so excited to share that the Stage 32 Community Open House is back this October — and this time, it’s bigger, bolder, and completely reimagined with you at the center. If you’ve attended a Stage 32 Open House in the past, you know it’s one of our most energizing community events — a place to meet fellow creatives, learn how to make the most of the platform, and leave feeling inspired to take your next big step. But this month’s event is completely new. This is...

The Rollercoaster By the time I arrived in Austin a few weeks before filming After All, the experience had already been an exercise in patience and perseverance. Five years had passed since development on the project officially began. As this was my second feature film, I had hoped things might move a bit faster. My first feature, Fair Haven, took about ten long years from start to finish. Two of After All’s development years were lost to a global pandemic, but regardless, the creative part of...

Happy Friday, Stage 32ers! I’m excited to announce that FilmScape Chicago is partnering with Stage 32 Certification to offer our acclaimed Stage 32 Production Accounting Master Certification Course to train and elevate local talent, ensuring Chicago’s productions continue to thrive with the highest-caliber crews. “The most common question we get—whether through social media or in person—is, ‘How do I get started in this industry?’”, says FilmScape Chicago’s President, Ned McGregor. “Taking t...

I had lunch with a producer on Friday who's worked on major sci-fi franchises for studios like WB and Netflix. Their big takeaway? Whoever has the audience has the leverage. Theaters used to have it. Netflix has it now. But YouTube? YouTube has more leverage than anyone. Here's the shift: it's not enough to own content anymore. You have to own the distribution or the channel. More and more production companies are financing, producing, and distributing their own content to reach audiences di...

Where I Started in March Last week, I was honored to receive a Double Recommend for my feature film script on Stage 32. So many amazing people have reached out to congratulate me, and I’ve received a fair number of questions asking for advice on how to get to this point. I LOVE THAT! Over the last six months, I’ve sought advice from many people, so I thought I’d pay it forward and share a brief timeline with key learning points on how I moved from a HARD double pass (twice) to a Double Recommen...

*Please note, this blog was co-written by Kevin and Kelly Tavolaro! Our first meeting involved a lot of blood. Kevin had co-written a horror feature that was being shot in the snowy woods of Utah. Kelly, an FX makeup artist, had been hired to bring the script to crimson-spraying, eye-gouging life. We first spoke during a night shoot, crowding around a propane heater in sub-zero temperatures. Between takes, the conversation turned to the classics…by which we mean Miami Connection and the film...

"Every film is a journey, and every journey is a film." - Francis Ford Coppola Hi, Stage 32 creatives, and welcome to all the newcomers! Like you, I was a new member not long ago, and since Coverfly closed and Stage 32 launched the Global Contest Hub, I've seen a lot of new faces. A post recently caught my attention, one that’s familiar to many of us: "Wait, why would I pay to pitch my idea?" For so long, we've been told to be wary of scams and people asking for money. It's a healthy refle...